We now have accommodations in Bad Hersfeld for the nights of May 14 and 15 at Hotel Jägerhof-Bad Hersfeld.

While there, we will have the opportunity to meet several descendants of Johann Tobias Rödiger.

Jürgen Schmidt is the great grandson of Johann Tobias Rödiger's son, Justus. He and his wife, Edith will be our guides when we visit.

Liesel (Eichenauer) Schmitt is the great granddaughter of Johann Tobias Rödiger's daughter, Anna Katharina.

Jürgen's first cousin, Marion Scherer and Liesel's grand nephew, Jan Hebborn will also be there.

Interestingly, our plans to visit have caused Liesel and (Marion and Jürgen) to realize that they are related. They didn't realize it until now, even though they lived so close to one another.

Marion knows Liesel quite well because she is a nurse and took care of Liesel's husband in their home, when Liesel wasn't able to manage it. And Liesel remembers Jürgen when he was a small boy living just across the Rohrbach creek. She moved away from Tann in 1950, when Jürgen was 6 years old so he did not remember her. (She currently lives in Beenhausen, about 5 miles northwest of Tann).

There is also a possibility that we will meet Walter Rödiger, Jürgen's mother's brother, age 86 and the oldest living descendant of Johann Tobias Rödiger, there in Germany. But he is currently in the hospital, and I am unsure of the seriousness of his condition.

Fun stuff! And thank goodness that Jürgen and Jan speak English well so we will be able to have a meaningful conversation with our new found relatives.